From: Al-Fatiha - LGBTIQ Muslims Date: Fri Mar 21, 2003 8:29 pm To view this report at the Al Fatiha news page please click on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/al-fatiha-news/message/510 Subject: Egypt News: One Lebanese Citizen Acquitted; Amnesty International Appeal for Wissam Abyad From drex818@yahoo.com in Cairo, Egypt: 1) Amnesty Appeal for Wissam Abyad 2) One Lebanese Citizen Acquitted ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 March 2003 Cairo, Egypt Wissam's appeal has been posted on the Amnesty USA web site. Please take a moment to go to the link below and take action to free Wissam Abyad. The Friends of Wissam Abyad thank you for your action on his behalf! http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2537 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 March 2003 Cairo, Egypt Yesterday was the appeal of the other Lebanese citizen arrested and sentenced in Egypt for the same charges as Wissam. His appeal, held in a different court, was successful, and he has been acquitted and will be set free within the coming 48 hours. The Lebanese Embassy in Cairo sent an observer to the trial, who contacted the Friends and Supporters of Wissam Abyad to inform us that the trial was successful and the other Lebanese citizen will go free. They expressed great interest in helping Wissam in the coming weeks to try to get Wissam out of jail as well. The Consul of the Lebanese Embassy informed us that they propose a meeting between Wissam's lawyers and the other Lebanese citizen's lawyers to compare notes and plan strategy. This meeting will possibly take place next week. Wissam's case, the Cassation trial, and the request for the suspended sentence will be discussed in this meeting. When Wissam's Cassation is filed, we can request a suspended sentence at that time for Wissam to be out of jail before his Supreme Court case. We are hoping for success in this application for suspended sentence. As all are seeing more clearly, especially after the other recent successful appeal, Wissam's case is totally unfair, harsh, not just, and a travesty of justice. The defense which stressed the "undercover cop" who entrapped both of them, used many of the same points as Wissam's lawyers. The appeals judge in Wissam's case chose not to execute the laws of Egypt, and instead to uphold the illegal and unfair sentence handed down in the first instance court and keep Wissam in prison for 15 months. The US Embassy spoke out last week against these arrests, highlighting Wissam's case as particularly disturbing due to its unfairness and harshness. This was in high level meetings with Egyptian officials. Wissam had a difficult week dealing with Egyptian bureaucracy. When he was sent first to Qanatir Prison they sent him back to the Appeals Jail as his name was written "Wissam Fuad Fuad Al-Abyad." They promised to fix it, and yesterday when the Egyptian Prison Authority finally went with our lawyer to get the Power of Attorney to work on the Cassation Case, they refused to do the paperwork as his name had been "corrected" to "Wissam Toufic Toufic Abyad". The Consul called the Prison Warden today to request that they fix his name correctly (as it is written on the photocopies of his passport that they have had in his file for more than 1 month). If this is not done, then Wissam will be sent to Qanatir again on Sunday and sent back to the Appeals Jail. The Warden said he will make sure the name is correct and we can go with a lawyer on Saturday to start the paperwork for the Cassation case inside the jail itself. Within a very short time, we will be requesting Wissam's release on suspended sentence. We are hoping for major pressure on all relevant parties to ensure it is granted. Again, we thank the Lebanese Embassy in Cairo for their dedication to serving their citizens in Egypt, and the US Embassy for its dedication to supporting human rights and rule of law in Egypt as well. If you can contact your congressmen, members of parliament, or other officials of your governments to request their urgent support for Wissam. We need major support for Wissam now to successfully get his sentence suspended in the coming weeks. Thanks for your support! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Al-Fatiha Foundation is a US-based organization dedicated to Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning and those exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity. For more information visit our web site at http://www.al-fatiha.org To join our announcement and news list send a blank email to Al-Fatiha-News-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com Al-Fatiha Foundation is part of a global grassroots movement of LGBTIQ Muslims and queer Muslim organizations. |